Something a little more Orthodox….

Anyone who knows me or looks at my blogity-thing will know that I am rather a fan of Victorian Scientific Romance. I’ve ended up doing all sorts of projects, the most considerable of them my 2mm scale adventure with Land Ironclads, and to a lesser extent my ramblings in 1/24^th Victorian Naval wargaming. As much fun as these are, the project that has long held true as the most enjoyable and engaging wargames project that I have ever set to, in absolutely no small part due to the colonial games put on by my dear friend ‘42’ and his wondrous collection of Imperial forces, Land Ironclads, airships, and all sorts.

For a long time, I have tried to join in on the fun of all of this, but I don’t feel that what I came up with ever was ever really right. ‘The League of Anarchy’, my attempt at a clandestine SPECTER-from-James-Bond –style band of anarchists, revolutionary’s and outlawed scientists , never really worked, felt right – or made the slightest bit of sense.

So I am going to try something far more Orthodox, The 1882 Russian Invasion of India, with my aforementioned friend ‘42’ playing the part of The British Empire.

I am already rather waist deep in this project and have  a fair few nice pictures to show, along with a good number more to come in the following few weeks along with backgrounds, setting, and even perhaps a little story that I wrote.

So, on to some pictures…

First up is a unit of Cossacks.

…and a unit of Guard Infantry.

A little close up…

I’m really very happy with how the flags came out. They are just photos of the Romanov flag printed out and PVAed and shaped.

A battery of Russian domestically produced copies of the Krupp 15-Pounder field gun. I’m planning to add a number of steam wagons to haul them along with their ammo ect. Also, I think it would be nice to have the battery command around a table somewhere near.

… and a close up…

The First of my Land Ironclads, an Ironclad Miniatures model, The Armoured-Gun ‘Peter the Great’. I’m really, really happy with how the Black and White with Gold rivets colour shame turned out. It’s based on the colour of Russian naval ships at the time. I am yet to add removable smoke from the stack.

Now, perhaps my favourite model I currently own. The Land Cruiser ‘Catherine the Great’. It’s a Copplestone Castings model of a Vickers Independent tank, a prototype cruiser tank designed with five turrets to and a good turn of speed, intended to get behind the enemy lines and wreak havoc, whilst watching its own back, hence ‘Independent’.  I saw the one existing example of this tank in the flesh at Bovington Tank Museum when I was but a lad, and decided that I wanted a model of it. It was only after I, years later, got the model that I realised that green is a really boring colour and that in this scale I don’t play any wargames set within 50 years of its existence. It then dawned on me it would make just about the best Land Ironclad – ever!

-          Dear god that was a lot of rivets! 2 hours I’m never getting back…

Coming up the rear, the War Car ‘Mir’. It’s another Copplestone castings model, this time of an obscure American lorry armoured and armed by the Russians in the Great War, then used in their Civil War. I thought it looked suitably old worldy, so it got painted the same as the others and got a small piece of copper pipe as a smoke stack. I probably should paint the rivets gold like on the others, but after the independent I think I need a break to recharge my patience.

And finally, leaking over from my past VSF nonsense, two Russian special agents. They tend to go around stirring up local populations, killing people, that sort of thing. Codenames ‘Mr. Anarchy’, and his wife ‘Mrs. Anarchy’.

Hope you like them. Id really like to know what you all think.

Next week expect – lots more Russian infantry and perhaps cavalry, and an Ironclad Monitor, - perhaps even the introduction of Exalted – The Wargame.

Till then, thanks for looking.

Cheerio 

Mr.Marx